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A Miraculous Sign by Jacklynn MacKenzie

Springtime, that wonderful time of year when nature sheds its' blanket of snow, and tiny purple and white crocuses peek their heads through the ground, still frosty from the bitter winter. I look out each morning, beginning in late March, anxiously awaiting the rebirth which takes place just outside my window. I have always loved the crocus. I look at it as a symbol of rebirth of a sort. When I gaze upon its' tiny, fragile buds bursting forth under the warm spring sunshine, I have a feeling of assurance that there really is "something" beyond life, something unfathonable, miraculous, and so splendid, just waiting for us to experience it. After all, if God can bring forth new life to the flowers and the trees, isn't it conceivable that He can give us a New Life when we die? The springtime of 1992 was unusually warm and balmy. The mayflowers were in bloom, and I would pick them along the roadside, although they tried to hide from my view. I would take them home and place them in a few of my pretty china cups, and their aroma would fill my home; yet another miracle of nature - the fact that this tiny blossom could survive the still frosty nights. I looked forward to returning from work each day to spend some time doing yardwork, cleaning up the gardens of the broken branches, raking up dead leaves left from last Fall. I also looked forward to my little walks along Port Morien Sandbar, which I began in earnest when the snow had disappeared, and the ice finally receded from Morien Harbour for the last time. How I loved to walk in the sand, and wade along the waters edge, thinking, contemplating life. Solitude, I suppose is what one would say I was experiencing - solitude with Nature. Surrounded by the sea, with blue, clear, sunny skies warming the sand beneath my feet, and a gentle Spring breeze in my face. It is here that I always come to pray also, to ask God to help me deal with the problems of life which, of course confront all of us. But this spring day was much different; for as Nature was renewing herself in the garden outside my window; while buds burst out on the trees, and the miracle of new life was all around me, my life was in a turmoil, the likes of which I never thought I would ever know or be able to deal with. I had lost my second youngest son tragically that May. A severe bacterial infection took over his entire body and within hours, my once vibrant, active and handsome son was taken from me, taken from all his family and his friends at the tender age of twenty-three. My heart ached, and my life was in shambles. In the days following the funeral, I returned to my place of solitude, my place of worship, the place I loved so much - Morien Sandbar. I needed to be alone, I needed to ask my God for a miracle, some sign that my precious son was safe with Him. I always believed that there was a life after death, and always had a deep faith in God, but here I was asking Him for a sign. It brought to mind, something I read in my Bible, (Oh, ye of little faith). I walked along the shoreline, wading in its cool water and prayed. I looked down and saw a little round object which I thought at the time was a nickel or dime. I leaned over and picked up this tiny object and examined it thoroughly. I had never seen anything like it before in all the years I had walked this sandbar. I had my sign. No one can convince me otherwise. God had heard my prayer, asking him if Kenny was safe with Him, and this was the sign he sent to me. I felt as though God was speaking to me through this tiny object, assuring me that Kenny was with Him. I felt very much at ease. Later on that day, my sister in law, Sandy told me this tiny object was a sort of shellfish, called a "Sand Dollar". I marked the date on it (May 20), and kept it tucked away in a special blue velvet lined silver box. Every day thereafter, I would make it a point to look for more of them, and almost every day I found one or more. As the years went on, they seemed to become larger and larger each time I found one. No other object in Nature means more to me than this tiny shell, as it is Gods miraculous answer to a Mothers' ardent prayer.

© 2004 Jacklynn MacKenzie

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